Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama today nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray
for a full term as director of the federal government’s powerful consumer financial agency, setting
up a potential collision with Senate Republicans who blocked his nomination last year.

In an announcement in the State Dining Room of the White House, Obama urged the Senate to
swiftly confirm Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency
that has sweeping authority over financial institutions for home mortgages and credit cards.

Cordray has served as director of the new consumer agency for the past year. When Sen. Rob
Portman and more than 40 other Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the nomination last
year, Obama relied on a recess appointment to install Cordray, 53, into the job. That appointment
expires at the beginning of next year.

“There is absolutely no excuse for the Senate to wait any longer’’ to confirm Cordray, Obama
said. He said that last year “nobody questioned Richard’s qualifications,’’ but that he was not “
allowed an up-or-down vote’’ in the Senate.

Obama said that over the past year, Cordray has “proved to be a champion of the American
people,’’ and has “earned a reputation as a straight shooter.’’

After Obama finished speaking, Cordray said, “We understand that our mission is to stand on
the side of consumers….and to see that they are treated fairly.’’

In addition to Cordray, Obama nominated New York federal prosecutor Mary Jo White as the
chairwoman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Should the Senate confirm Cordray, it would clear an easier path for Cuyahoga County
Executive Ed Fitzgerald to become the Democratic gubernatorial challenger next year to Gov. John
Kasich. Cordray has long been considered a potential candidate for governor in 2014.

Other Democrats said to be looking at running for governor include U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of
Niles and former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Barberton. Pat Lowry, a Ryan spokesman, said the
congressman “is still considering’’ whether he would run for governor.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters today that Cordray has “substantial
bipartisan support out in the country,’’ adding, “Hopefully it will convince the Senate to move
forward and allow the up-or-down vote that he deserves.’’

Carney said last year “there were no objections on substance to his nomination.
Unfortunately, it was blocked because -- for political considerations, because some folks in
Congress don't believe that we should have an effective Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The
president strongly disagrees. The American people strongly disagree.’’

Yet Senate Republicans and their allies in the financial industry are likely to be wary of
confirming Cordray. Portman and other GOP lawmakers have objected to the fact that the agency is
run by a sole director as opposed to a board of commissioners, such as the Federal Communications
Commission, which is run by five commissioners.

In addition, Republicans want Congress to approve the bureau's budget annually, instead of
financing the agency through the Federal Reserve Board. They have demanded these changes before
they will confirm any full-time director.

Richard Hunt, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Bankers Association, said
the agency “has been a political football in part due to its flawed structure. This is the perfect
opportunity for Congress to replace a sole director with a commission.’’

Reached this morning, FitzGerald said he is inclined to run for governor, but has not made a
final decision. On the heels of Gov. Ted Strickland’s decision not to run, today’s announcement
about Cordray will help “clarify” the Democratic race by lessening the chance of a contested
primary in 2014, FitzGerald said.

“I’m leaning towards doing it, but I am taking the temperature of people across the state and
it’s been pretty encouraging,” FitzGerald said about the governor’s race. “There is a strong desire
among people across the state to identify the Democrat who’s going to be the candidate. Time is of
the essence so I need to make a decision soon.”

FitzGerald said he has known Cordray for 20 years, adding that “he has a great record of
public service and by all accounts he’s done a great job” as head of the federal agency.

If Cordray is not in the race, “It helps people make an earlier commitment,” FitzGerald said.
“Rich is very well respected across the state and there were a lot of people waiting to see what he
would do.”

Cordray’s nomination was swiftly endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who as an Obama
aide in 2009 designed the new agency.

In a statement, Warren said the agency has had “an extraordinary first year and a half
holding credit card companies accountable for cheating consumers and adopting the first set of
rules to clean up the mortgage market. Senate confirmation of Rich’s nomination will continue this
momentum.”